


Endless cycle

by SpaceMalarkey



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Best Friends, Childhood Memories, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Secrets, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:34:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22366477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceMalarkey/pseuds/SpaceMalarkey
Summary: Wild has been hiding something from everyone. There is only one person he trusts with his secret.
Relationships: Hyrule & Wild (Linked Universe)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 466





	Endless cycle

It was a fine day, even if they were currently lost as all hell. The sun was shining, the gentle breeze tickled the grass of the seemingly endless plans before them, and Hyrule had planned on doing absolutely nothing until the others arrived at their grassy hill. Maybe except lying down and enjoying the sun on his skin.

Naturally, as all things in Hyrule's life, it didn’t go that way. 

Especially since Wild's voice broke the tranquil peace. His voice was soft, and quiet as always. Yet the words sounded like screams to Hyrule's ears. 

"I used to call him Link". 

The brunette blinked in confusion before twisting his head from his reclined position to stare at his companion, who was sitting upright, staring at the lands ahead of them.

"Who?" Hyrule asked against his better judgement. 

"Him. The old me.” He paused, seemingly hesitant to go on. “Or so I thought."

Alright, this was interesting now. Seemed like his friend had figured something out.

Hyrule wiggled up from his very comfortable position, and decided sitting up was too much of a hassle. Instead, he leaned back on his elbows and waited for Wild to elaborate.

The scarred hero did, after contemplating his words. 

"I used to think the me who died was the old me. You know, the soldier who uttered not a single word. Not to anyone but a select few people. The people from before."

Hyrule turned his eyes from his friend, and instead focused on taking in the beautiful wilderness. 

"Who were they?" he asked in a whisper.

"The champions," Wild smiled. "The princess," a pause. 

"My parents." 

Hyrule sat up in shock. 

"You remember them?" 

His fellow hero didn’t turn to look at him, only kept staring solemnly over the landscape. 

"Yes. I remembered everything. Like I always do. And soon I'll forget again."

He clenched a fist. 

"Like always."

Hyrule didn’t know what to do, what to say. He just sat there, staring at his friend. 

Wild finally looked at him, with a small smile on his face. 

"I used to call him Link. That persona born from my anxiety and my burdens. I used to give him my name, and I used to believe he was who I truly was. I gave into the illusion that the entire kingdom forced on me with their prying eyes." He laughed, a dry sound from deep within his chest. "In truth I was always, and am always, who I used to be. Before everything."

He turned away from the open wilderness, turned instead to face Hyrule fully, legs crossed, with a serene smile on his face. He seemed calmer now, with all his memories. Like a search was finally over and all his anger had passed. And yet he seemed somber. 

"Hey," he started, looking almost bashful, rubbing the back of his neck like most of them tended to do. There was a hint of a blush across his cheeks. "Would you mind listening to my story? It’s only a matter of time before I forget again, and I want someone else to know who I was- Who I am, before it all disappears from me and I begin searching all over again."

Hyrule blinked, and sat up properly, copying Wild's pose. Like a twisted mirror image. It seemed his actions were enough of an answer for the other. He relaxed, his hands resting comfortably in his lap. 

"Did you know I was being trained when I was a toddler?”   
At Hyrule’s shocked gape, Wild scurried to correct himself. “Not in the traditional way mind you, but to truly do what we do now! Hunting, cooking, surviving anywhere in the wilds. My mother was a Gerudo, even if I don’t look it. She taught me to hunt and to fight smart, using my environment and what I had on me. Some called it fighting dirty, especially since my father was a knight, and his father before him. But my father just laughed and told them there was no honor in a dead body. He was right, as it turns out. I wouldn’t have survived my duty if my mother hadn’t taught me."

He smiled so fondly, and Hyrule knew he must be telling the truth. 

"People doubted I was my mother’s son as well. I was small, short, had pale skin. And I was a boy. But mother told me the fact that Gerudo only have female children was an old myth. It might have been the case several thousand years ago, but in my time plenty of Gerudo have sons as well as daughters. They no longer rule with monarchy like the ancient days either, so no boy could ever claim a throne from them."

Wild looked down in his lap, at his hands. 

"I wonder if she would have liked how I turned out,” he spoke in a soft voice. Almost as if he was sharing something fragile. A desperate wish that would be left unfulfilled if he trusted the wrong person with it. “Despite not having her hair, or her skin, I seem to have been gifted her traits after all. My hips are wider than my waist, my muscles don’t bulge, yet I have more strength in them than the average Hylian. I seem to be able to withstand damage like a desert warrior."

Wild looked up at Hyrule once more, and lifted his hands to hide the lower half of his face. 

"I even pass for a vai, don’t I?"

The brunette startled, before shaking his head. 

"I should have known. Of course that garment was yours."

Wild smiled. 

"Maybe you'll see me in it one day.” He held his arms out wide, posing with an elegance Hyrule had seen plenty of times. “Urbosa said I looked lovely in it. Others seem to think so as well."

He closed his eyes. Enjoyed the gentle breeze and the fair weather for a moment. "I like wearing it,” he admitted. "Any of the armor sets from the desert feel like they belong on me. In more ways than one."

"Because they do," Hyrule grinned as Wild’s eyes met his, widened in surprise. "You just told me you are half Gerudo. Naturally you belong there."

Wild blinked, before his puzzled expression was replaced with a small smile. “Yeah. Suppose I do." 

They sat in silence for a while, before Wild continued. 

"The me who doesn’t remember believes that the knight persona I made was the real me, but that is far from true.” He bit his lips, suddenly looking vulnerable. "Could you remind me? When I inevitably forget?" 

Hyrule grabbed his hand and nodded, a familiar determination filling his heart. "I promise.”

Wild did not comment on that. Rather, he stored that expression in his fragile memory, wishing with all his might that he wouldn’t forget. 

He continued telling his dear friend of his early life, of his darling sister whom he would eventually forget again. How he thought she must have been his half sister, but that they were definitely of the same parentage due to their shared recklessness. Told Hyrule of his heritage and his peaceful life before the sword made his young mind close off and inevitably lead him to his first death. All the way up to the shrine, where he woke up. Wild never told anyone of his adventures. Not in detail. Then again, none of them did.

When he was finished, Wild took Hyrule's hands in his, and smiled so brilliantly. 

"Thank you. I’m sorry to place this burden on you."

Hyrule squeezed his hands. 

"How do you keep going after losing all of it over and over? I have seen you at night, when your memories come as nightmares. You always struggle and you hurt so much."

Wild's smile dimmed and he looked down for a small moment before lifting his eyes, bright blue and determined, to meet Hyrule's green. 

"Because I get to remember it all again and again. All the good I had, and the good I still have."

"And all the bad things?"

Wild laughed, a bright sound carrying across the winds, and Hyrule was struck at the familiarity of the sound. It was the same laugh Wild made whenever he was truly happy and free. 

"Life cannot be good without the bad to teach us what good is, Rule!" he exclaimed. 

"Don’t dismiss the bad times. You are alive now to remember them, and that in itself is good."

Hyrule grinned at his words. 

"How did you become such a wise man?"

Wild matched his grin and pushed him over into the grass. 

"My mother used to tell me that."

  
  


Later, when the sun had disappeared and they had reunited with the rest of the heroes, Hyrule found Wild leaning over the cooking pot as usual, an absent look in his eyes. 

He had already forgotten.

Hyrule decided to sit with him, watching him stir the pot and adding ingredients almost automatically, his mind far away. 

A silky fabric was sticking out of Wild's bag, turquoise and beautiful. Hyrule reached over to touch it, and found Wild's hand grabbing his wrist tightly.

"Don’t touch that." Wild's voice left no room for argument. 

"Alright, I won’t," Hyrule told him calmly. It seemed to appease his friend’s temper, and he was given his arm back. 

"But you know, I think you should wear it like you want to." 

The scarred hero stared at him, eyes wide. 

"How do you-?"

"Maybe one day, you will remember that you don’t care what others think about how you look, because it makes you feel good. You care so much about that garb, and its important to you, yes? Why should you feel any shame over it?"

Wild seemed to think it over, blinking his confusion away, before he settled back in a more relaxed pose. 

"You’re right, I usually don’t care what people think of me. I don’t know why I do now, with heroes surrounding me. Do you think-?" he paused, uncertain. 

"I think you should be able to wear what you want, and be who you want. None of us will ever try and force you to do anything less."

Hyrule knew this burden he had taken upon himself was well worth it when he saw Wild's relieved smile. 

"Maybe one day," he spoke softly. A whisper only meant for the two of them. "Maybe I'll get to show you all the desert I like so much."

Hyrule smiled, and reached out a hand to pat his friend on the shoulder. 

"I look forward to it."

_“Maybe next time you remember, I'll tell you my own story,”_ Hyrule thought. 

  
  


_Maybe you'll remember it, even when you don’t remember yourself._


End file.
